Best Restaurant To Eat - Malaysian Food Blog: MALAYSIA INTERNATIONAL GOURMET FESTIVAL 2014 MIGF - The Festival Awards & Celebration Party Grand Finale

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

MALAYSIA INTERNATIONAL GOURMET FESTIVAL 2014 MIGF - The Festival Awards & Celebration Party Grand Finale – Royal Chulan Kuala Lumpur

After a hectic month of dining and spectacular Festival events - set to the theme of ‘Red Hot Chefs!’ - it was time for the hard working 28 premier restaurants to let their hair down, enjoy the camaraderie of their peers and be feted at the traditional MIGF Awards and Celebration Party.

Attended by over 1,000 VIPs including royalty, 23 foreign Ambassadors, celebrities, captains of industry and international food writers, the MIGF Awards and Celebration Party signaling the finale of the 14th Malaysia International Gourmet Festival MIGF 2014 was an explosive affair with smoke, flame, red hot dancers, magical tricks and glittering awards ceremonies at the Royale Chulan Hotel Kuala Lumpur last Thursday evening.

The event began with fearless fire-breathers entering the atrium twirling flaming batons and swallowing flames whole. The Festival Chefs then arrived on the stage with much fanfare presenting a picture of happy camaraderie until suddenly eight 'chefs' broke forward, threw off their chefs' garbs and transformed into red hot dancers. The crowd burst into excited applause!

It was the restaurants' night off and courtesy of the Vision Four Media Group, Festival restaurants and guests enjoyed the best of traditional cuisine from each state of Malaysia. A lively Latin band, energetic salsa dancers and free-flowing drinks made sure it was a long night of continuous revelry.

Six restaurants made the final cut for the Golden Cauldron Award – given to the best all round restaurant of the Festival - but at the end of the evening it was Chef Nathalie Arbefeuille of Cuisine Gourmet by Nathalie who raised the gleaming trophy high, setting a new record by being the first female chef and the first non-hotel based restaurant to claim the Festival's ultimate prize.

In addition to Cuisine Gourmet by Nathalie, the finalists for the Golden Cauldron Award were La Scala, Marini’s on 57, Tanzini, Ten Japanese Fine Dining and The Olive.

Four Special MIGF Awards were also presented: The prestigious award for ‘Most Popular Restaurant at the VIP Gala Launch’ was won by Cuisine Gourmet by Nathalie based on portions and value sold. ‘The Most Popular Overall Restaurant at Taste MIGF’, this time by public response, was won by Ten Japanese Fine Dining. The award for ‘The Most Outstanding Marketing of the Festival’ was won by Resorts World Genting; while Westin Langkawi’s Seasonal Tastes won the award for ‘The Most Outstanding Overall Festival Experience’; Chef Valmurugan Subramaniam of Samplings on the Fourteenth was voted by his fellow chefs as ‘Chef Congeniality’ - the most popular chef of MIGF 2014.

MIGF 2014 was sponsored by Tourism Malaysia with The Vision Four Media Group as the Principal Festival Partner. The Official Imaging Partner was Fujifilm Malaysia and Official Beer, Kronenbourg 1664. The Festival Media Partners were Astro, Asian Food Channel, Astro Radio, Seni Jaya, Vision Four and Vision KL.

The MIGF Awards and Celebration Party is a rare time, not only for the Festival Chefs, but also for the restaurant management, kitchen, and service staff to enjoy the limelight due to their traditional behind-the-scenes roles. “Everyone involved in MIGF is a winner. Everyone deserves a medal. It has been a privilege to work with all of you!” declared the Organising Chairman, Dato’ Steve Day.

Awards were given for creativity, innovation, presentation and value of the Festival Menu, quality of service, effective marketing strategies, best use of the Festival theme, best restaurant station designs and the number of Taste Sovereigns and Gourmet Dollars collected and portions sold during the Gala Launch and Taste MIGF.